Uncommitted’ caucus votes won’t count

Ames residents planning to cast "uncommitted" votes in Republican caucuses next week can think again, according to an official from the Story County Republican Party.

Ames residents planning to cast “uncommitted” votes in Republican caucuses next week can think again, according to an official from the Story County Republican Party.

The “uncommitted” or “no preference” option is currently being promoted by Occupy groups across the state to protest candidates on the ballot.

Members of Iowa’s Occupy movement, which has focused on promoting economic equality and organizing against predatory banking practices, shifted its focus this month to physically occupying campaign offices and building support for voting “uncommitted” in solidarity against candidates who receive corporate campaign dollars.

In recent days, a number of Occupy Ames members said they plan to register and caucus with the Republicans, but write in “uncommitted” instead of picking a candidate to support.

But according to Story County Republican Party chairman Cory Adams, “there’s not a way to vote non-committed.”

“If they write in ‘Mickey Mouse,’ then yes, we will count all the ‘Mickey Mouse’ votes and pass them on to the Republican Party,” he said. “But, we can’t count a non-ballot vote.”

While the Story County GOP policy is consistent with county-level policies statewide, refusing to count “no preference” votes marks a shift from past years. In 1976, the idea gained enough traction that voting “uncommitted” garnered support from 37 percent of Iowa caucus-goers. In 1972, 36 percent of voters cast an uncommitted ballot.

Drew Veysey, a member of Occupy Ames and Occupy D.C., said the movement isn’t about voting but said, “since there’s going to be a bunch of voting anyway … there needs to be an option for people who sympathize with the Occupy movement.

“If the vote total is just kind of a temperature check, why wouldn’t they count it? I don’t understand what’s so complicated about democracy. They should just count all the ballots.”

Iowa State University senior Robert Manatt has worked with both Occupy Ames and Occupy ISU and said he decided to write in an “uncommitted” vote to show his interest in broadening Occupy’s discussion.

“The Occupy movement has chosen to steer itself in a direction more towards direct participation in the democratic process,” he said. “Up until now, it’s been mostly disruption.”

John Nichols, a political commentator and writer for “The Nation,” plans to speak about the issue Friday afternoon in Des Moines.

Both the Republican and Democratic caucuses are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Hannah Furfaro can be reached at (515) 663-6918 or hfurfaro@amestrib.com.